Background: Tobacco users with mental health conditions are a vulnerable population in tobacco research, yet few studies have evaluated the association of depressive and anxiety symptoms with multiple tobacco product (MTP) use among young adult electronic cigarette (ENDS) users.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey data on U.S. young adult past 30-day ENDS users (N = 2348) were collected via Amazon MTurk from May-July 2019. Binary logistic regressions evaluated the association of tobacco use pattern (exclusive ENDS use, ENDS + one other tobacco product [OTP; dual use], ENDS + two or more OTPs [poly-use]) with depressive (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) symptoms. Among MTP users (n = 1736), we evaluated the association of ENDS use relative to OTP use and same-day MTP use with depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Results: The sample included 26% exclusive ENDS, 27% dual, and 47% poly-users. We observed a gradient-relationship for depressive and anxiety symptoms: poly-users had greater odds of depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to dual users (aOR = 1.86 [95%CI:1.50-2.30] and aOR = 1.61 [95%CI:1.30-2.01], respectively), and dual users had greater odds of depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to exclusive ENDS users (aOR = 1.42 [95%CI:1.11-1.81] and aOR = 1.56 [95%CI:1.20-2.02], respectively). MTP users who used ENDS more often than OTPs (vs. less often than OTPs) had greater odds of depressive (aOR = 1.38 [95%CI:1.06-1.80]) and anxiety (aOR = 1.37 [95%CI:1.04-1.79]) symptoms.
Conclusions: The majority of young adult past 30-day ENDS users in this sample reported OTP use. Future research on MTP use should distinguish between dual and poly-use. Tobacco prevention efforts for young adults with mental health symptoms are needed.
Keywords: Multiple tobacco product use; anxiety symptoms; depressive symptoms; e-cigarettes; young adults.